I got to thinking a bit more about this issue of recoil, and another thing came to mind.
I see a lot of fellows at the range who seldom shoot, except maybe once or twice before hunting season. They come to the range and hunker down all wrong, with the bench set way too low, and them leaning into the rifle at a low angle and their eyeball half an inch from the scope. Then they prop both elbows on the bench, and hold the rifle as if it was made out of marshmallows. That's just asking to get kicked! (Then they rest the barrel on the bags instead of the forearm and wonder why they can't get a group, but that's another story!)
Then they get hammered a few times from this bad posture, and by that time they have the flinch from hell, and they think it's the rifles fault. The stocks on hunting rifles are designed based on shooting from a standing position, with the rifle and your body at 90 degrees from each other. The flex allowed by your shoulder and upper body will absorb a whole lot of recoil, relatively painlessly.
Damn kids nowadays. Sit up straight! Do I have to tell you everything?
